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Jackson’s Children Go to His Mother

LOS ANGELES — Michael Jackson’s mother was granted temporary guardianship of his three children by a Los Angeles judge on Monday, and a hearing on permanent custody was scheduled for next week.

Mr. Jackson’s mother, Katherine Jackson, 79, also petitioned to be named administrator of his estate, and a hearing on that matter was set for August.

Shortly afterward, Mr. Jackson’s father, Joe, held a disjointed news conference in front of the family’s San Fernando Valley home, during which he veered among his central topic, his plans for his new record company; his grandchildren, who he said were “happy”; and the private autopsy on his son, which the family ordered after findings of a county autopsy last Friday proved inconclusive pending the results of toxicology tests.

Mr. Jackson said that there would be no funeral until the outcome of the private autopsy, whose results, he said, he expects shortly, and that the family was unprepared to say more about the arrangements.

The singer’s older children, 12-year-old Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., also known as Prince Michael, and Paris Michael Katherine Jackson, 11, are the biological children of Debbie Rowe, to whom he was briefly married. A younger son, Prince Michael Jackson II, 7, called Blanket, was carried to term by a surrogate who has never been identified.

“Minor children are currently residing with their paternal grandmother,” documents filed by lawyers for Katherine Jackson say. “They have a long-established relationship with paternal grandmother and are comfortable in her care.”

The documents list Ms. Rowe’s address as “unknown,” and the youngest child’s mother as “none.”

Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff of Los Angeles County Superior Court, who granted the temporary custody, set a hearing for next Monday to make further determinations about the children’s guardianship.

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The petition seeking to have Mrs. Jackson appointed administrator of her son’s estate says she intends to “marshal assets of the decedent for the exclusive use of the decedent’s three children — her grandchildren — after payments of debts and expenses of administration.”

Mr. Jackson was unwed when he died, and the filing says he did not have a valid will. It says the children are therefore the sole beneficiaries of the estate.

Whether Mr. Jackson in fact left a will — or how many wills he had — and what he left in assets and debts have yet to be determined.

Judge Beckloff scheduled a hearing for Aug. 3 on the estate matter, though he did appoint Mrs. Jackson a “special administrator” of the estate, permitting her to control property “in the possession of a third party” until next week’s hearing.

The filings may well presage future legal battles. Many custody experts, for instance, think Ms. Rowe would most likely win final custody of her two children should she seek it.

At the news conference, which Joe Jackson held with the Rev. Al Sharpton on the lawn of the family’s home in Encino, Mr. Sharpton more than once whispered answers to Mr. Jackson, who seemed slightly confused and breathless as he took in the questions pelted his way.

In his first order of business, Mr. Jackson said that he wanted to make clear he had embarked on creating a new record label, that “we have a lot of good artists” and that his son would have wished for the family to remain musically engaged.

“Michael,” Mr. Sharpton agreed, “would have wanted his family to continue his work.”

Anahad O’Connor and Derrick Henry contributed reporting from New York.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A10 of the New York edition with the headline: Judge Rules For Mother Of Jackson On Custody. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe